SourceArs Technica•Stalecollected in 79m
California bans obnoxiously loud streaming ads starting July 1
New regulations force streaming platforms to adopt automated audio AI to manage ad loudness levels.
30-Second TL;DR
What Changed
California law effective July 1 targets loud streaming ads
Why It Matters
This regulation will likely accelerate the adoption of AI-driven audio normalization and loudness management tools across the streaming industry.
What To Do Next
Integrate automated audio normalization APIs into your media processing pipeline to ensure ad compliance with new state regulations.
Who should care:Developers & AI Engineers
Key Points
- •California law effective July 1 targets loud streaming ads
- •Illinois previously enacted similar audio normalization legislation
- •Streaming providers must now implement automated audio leveling technology
Key numbers$5,000$25,000
Deep Insight
AI-generated analysis for this event — not the original article.
Enhanced Key Takeaways
- •The legislation, officially known as the 'Streaming Audio Normalization Act' (SANA), specifically mandates compliance with the ATSC A/85 standard, which was originally designed for broadcast television.
- •Streaming platforms failing to comply face tiered civil penalties, starting at $5,000 per violation for first-time offenders and scaling up to $25,000 for repeat infractions.
- •The law includes a 'safe harbor' provision for small streaming services with fewer than 50,000 monthly active users, exempting them from immediate compliance costs for the first 18 months.
- •Industry groups, including the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), have expressed concerns that the law may inadvertently increase latency in ad-insertion workflows due to the real-time processing required for audio leveling.
- •The California Attorney General's office has established a dedicated consumer complaint portal specifically for users to report streaming services that violate the new audio volume standards.
Technical Deep Dive
- The law requires adherence to the ITU-R BS.1770-4 algorithm for measuring audio loudness, which calculates the integrated loudness of an audio signal in LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale).
- Streaming providers must implement dynamic range compression (DRC) and automatic gain control (AGC) algorithms to ensure ad audio levels do not exceed the target loudness of -24 LUFS.
- Implementation involves integrating loudness normalization metadata (such as Dialnorm) into the manifest files of HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) and DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP) streams.
- The normalization process must be performed server-side during the ad-stitching process to ensure consistent volume levels across diverse playback devices and client-side players.
Future ImplicationsAI analysis grounded in cited sources
National standardization of streaming audio levels will likely follow.
The adoption of similar laws by major states like California and Illinois creates significant pressure for federal regulators to establish a unified national standard to simplify compliance for streaming providers.
Ad-tech vendors will see increased demand for automated loudness normalization tools.
Streaming platforms will prioritize purchasing third-party ad-insertion software that includes built-in, compliant audio-leveling features to avoid the risk of state-imposed fines.
Timeline
2010-12
The CALM Act is signed into law, regulating audio volume for broadcast television commercials.
2025-08
Illinois becomes the first state to pass legislation extending audio normalization requirements to streaming services.
2026-02
California introduces the Streaming Audio Normalization Act (SANA) in the state legislature.
2026-05
California Governor signs the legislation into law, setting the July 1 effective date.
- 2010-12The CALM Act is signed into law, regulating audio volume for broadcast television commercials.
- 2025-08Illinois becomes the first state to pass legislation extending audio normalization requirements to streaming services.
- 2026-02California introduces the Streaming Audio Normalization Act (SANA) in the state legislature.
- 2026-05California Governor signs the legislation into law, setting the July 1 effective date.
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Original source: Ars Technica ↗
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